Barcelona president insists Lionel Messi will never be for sale

Madrid, Jan 27: FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu Tuesday insisted that his club has no intention of selling prolific Argentine striker Lionel Messi. Messi's future at the club has been put in doubt over rumours of poor relations between the striker and Barcelona coach Luis Enrique and various 'enigmatic' comments Messi has made over recent weeks in which he has said you can never be 100 percent certain what the future may hold, reports Xinhua.

"We have no intention of selling Leo. I can guarantee Messi' s continuity for this season and for the coming seasons," he said, while praising Luis Enrique.

"He is doing a good job and I am very happy, the team is improving all of the time," Bartomeu, who will stand for re-election as club president in the summer, said.

People responsible for transfer ban no longer at Barcelona: Bartomeu

Barcelona have the current handicap of being unable to buy players this month or in the summer as the result of a FIFA ban imposed over irregularities regarding the signing of players for the club' s youth system.

"There are people responsible for that who are no longer at the club," said Bartomeu, who believes the rules over signing youngsters from foreign countries should be changed.

"It is not possible that we can' t bring in players because their parents cannot travel with them," he said.